FERNS AND MOSSES. 
83 
Such is the definition of the generic characters as given 
in the English Flora. The author of a History of British 
Ferns, to whom we have frequently referred, furnishes, how- 
over, a different description of the Bristle-fern, which, in 
justice to our readers, we shall transcribe, remembering how 
singularly different species of this interesting family are 
affected by wet or dry summers, or by dissimilarity of 
growing places. 
" The mass of thecse is attached to the centre of a vein, 
after its ultimate division, and invariably to that one which 
is situated nearest the mid-vein of the frond, pinna, or 
pinnula, as the case may be. At the attachment of this 
mass of thecac, the wing loses its green and serai-mem- 
branous appearance ; its cuticles separate, and form an 
elongate, cup-shaped receptacle, which includes the mass of 
thecse. The vein itself, after bearing the theca?, runs 
through the receptacle, and projects considerably beyond its 
extremity, in the similitude of a bristle." 
The Scaly -hart' s-tongne (Ceterach OJficinarum) has ever 
been my delight. It has no beauty to commend it, as 
SCALY-HART'S-TONGUE. 
figured above ; but when growing on walls and rocks, in 
company with the harebell and small snapdragon, its fre- 
quent companions, there is something indescribably pleasing 
